Aya's feelings were churning as he leaned on a tree beside Sakura. He was eating off a bowl with chopsticks. The reason he was standing instead of sitting with his date stood glaring some distance away. He'd spotted Crawford even before they'd enter the park. The man had brought his American Jaguar to the park's parking lot. Aya had recognized it almost as once.
That black car's as glaring as my white Porsche… I wonder if he knows that…
The Weiß redhead didn't know what to feel about this latest intrusion of Schwartz into his life.
Intrusion of Crawford…you mean…
After the tumult of their earlier meetings, he felt as if he was dancing around an unknown security system. Crawford's brown eyes were like lasers ready to catch his every misstep and dating Sakura was undoubtedly a wrong move on his part.
This is ridiculous… We kissed only for a couple or so times and he thinks he owns me? Or do I think I belong to him?
Huh?
Aya found himself retreating at the thought. A sudden deep resentment welled up from somewhere within him, startling him.
Where did that come from?
He nearly had it; nearly caught the meaning behind the feeling but it was gone easily. It had been at the tip of his tongue but so fleeting and fragile, easily dismissed as pride. His indignation heightened.
Crawford doesn't have a claim on me! Despite what he had done so far…despite how he has done to make my sister's rescue possible for this week… I'm sure he's got a hidden agenda under there…somewhere…
It's not as if I gave him reason to claim me…
Some guilt resurfaced. He did kiss Crawford and offered himself to the man when he knew that the precog wanted him.
But that was in desperation… If he thinks that I should play nice now that he's given me the information and he has no hold on me…
The anger blotted everything out.
"Sakura, do you want another piece of fish?" Aya asked, smiling at the young girl before him as he bent over to offer a piece from his bowl.
"Thanks, Aya-san. Have a leek?" Sakura asked as she accepted the tidbit.
"Hai."
***
"Crawford..." Schuldig broke off as the American grabbed the door in his hand and slammed it close.
"You sure are in a mood...what pissed on your reports?" Schuldig asked innocently as Crawford stomped off without answering him. His smug tone did much to ruin the effect.
Heh, I bet it was that Sakura-chick...I've never seen him this pissed...
It was a good guess as any. Nothing fazed the man as much as the field leader of the White Hunters. Though the man seemed so oblivious to his own obsession...
But then, who isn't? There are none so blind as those who would not see what is right under their nose and here's the blindest of them all…
Schuldig was amused. Although it was a risk to them, the German couldn't help but be amused by Crawford's preoccupation with the Weiß Kreuz leader.
Can't he see how he doesn't notice that his eyes follow the guy around like he was the only man on earth!
"What's it to you? Jealous?" Crawford said, glasses flashing.
"Hardly." Schuldig said, ironically.
Who would be jealous about a frigid bastard like you?
It might've been insulting had it happened years ago. Then, Schuldig had tried to control his leader by way of seduction. It was one of the options available to an ambitious subordinate. He never did have the temperament to rise through conventional methods. More than anything, Rosenkreuz showed how to rise in the world. They were taught cruelty and expediency through example of their teachers who would willingly find anyway to rise in the favor of the masters at the expense of their fellows and students. Schuldig thought Crawford would be easy prey.
Crawford never showed much promise in the sex games. He lived more like a monk than anyone had in that hell. He rarely traded sexual favor for favor, preferring intimidation and violence in getting his way. Schuldig thought he'd be an easy mark for seduction. It was not case. It seemed that the precog was almost touch-o-phobic. He rejected every advance the telepath had made and then some.
Schuldig grinned. No he wasn't all that thrilled to see Crawford taking it up with the Fujimiya but it had more to do with practicalities than any emotional reason.
I'd be sure to give him a crate of Viagra if he and Crawford ever got together… He's got my sympathies...[1]
Schuldig thought, remembering a particular incident. He had planned it just so that the other team members were busy with other tasks. It was in his earlier days in Schwartz. At that time, it was also a team of four, though the fourth member had been a French pyrokinetic.
Smug bastard... He never made me forget that I miscalculated on my seduction attempt...
***
"Au revoir, I'm off to look for my Isabeau. " Etienne Nevarre said, with a wink. It was a joke based on a movie.
"Don't get turned into a wolf along the way... Oh, I forgot, you're already a wolf." Schuldig adding the usual punch line, giving the man an appreciative glance. The man wore tight leather with panache. The flamboyant pyrokinetic was the epitome of a French lover boy and had gone off many nights to charm and sleep with the ladies. If Schuldig didn't secretly hate him that much, they'd be good friends on the basis of having that in common. [2]
Etienne laughed and shook his head of black hair.
: Good luck with the boss. :
The Frenchman said as he got his coat.
It barely registered on Schuldig whose mind was whirling with his plans for the night.
This is the night that I'm really going to get Crawford to bed…
Schuldig had used many a subtle ploy to seduce the elusive leader of Schwartz but none had succeeded so far.
But then I'd never really had the opportunity…
He never had an uninterrupted moment with the precog long enough for anything more than a hint or two but that was going to change tonight. He had made sure that Farfarello was drugged for the night. All he needed now was for the self-satisfied ass to get out of the door.
: And good luck with your Isabeau. :
He called out in false cheer as the Frenchman let himself put.
Asshole... You're the first to go, when I get Crawford under my thumb...
Schuldig thought to the closed door. He'd make sure that Crawford threw the bastard out of Schwartz at the first opportunity.
Au revoir...
Schuldig parroted in his thoughts.
I'll have you kicked out faster than you can blink...
He despised Etienne heartily for the pyrokinetic's easy rise through to power structure of Estet. The man made it look effortless when Schuldig had fought tooth and claw to get where he was now.
In six months, he gets assigned to Schwartz when it took me five bloody years of sleeping around to get here...
Schwartz was considered a plum assignment. Crawford was a well favored in the higher ups and he rarely lost team members to random skirmishes.
Heck, most of those who died in his command look like they were trying to shoot Crawfish in the back...
In the three months that Schuldig had known Crawford, he had never seen the precog wrong.
Another reason to stick to him as close as possible...he'll go far...
Schuldig started his preparations.
***
"What the hell is the meaning of this, Schuldig?" Crawford asked as he had come into the transformed living room.
The lights have been dimmed. The couches arranged to make for cozy spaces. Schuldig was draped artistically over a couch. He wore an artistically slashed tank top and silk underpants.
I'd go naked but Crawford might freak out…besides that is so obvious…
"Nothing, just felt like doing over our space a bit. It was so dull." Schuldig drawled.
"As long as it doesn't affect the efficiency of the team, you can do whatever you like." Crawford said. He walked towards his room that was conventionally lit. Schuldig didn't have the courage to alter that yet.
Is that all, he's going to say?
Schuldig was chagrinned to see that Crawford wouldn't even look at him long.
Shy, aren't we? I guess it's time to shift gears and fluster you a bit…
"Oh, come on! Aren't you going to ask why for?" Schuldig said, stalking gracefully over to Crawford, intercepting the man before the latter could go into the other room.
Schuldig put a hand on the precog's chest in affected coyness, his body less than an inch away.
"It is self-evident. You have a rather formidable reputation in that department." Crawford said, unruffled. Brown eyes stared at Schuldig calmly as the man pushed him away fast.
"What do you mean by that?" Schuldig said. He sounded amused, though his amusement was rather frayed around the edges. The truth was that he was the one getting flustered by Crawford's lack of reaction.
Why isn't he reacting? I know he's homosexual or at least bisexual…
There were a few rumors floating around that the man had slept with at least with one male normal.
"I mean that you're well known for being a bed bunny who jumps in for carrots." Crawford said. He stayed cool under Schuldig's annoyed scrutiny.
That bastard Nevarre must have told him…that's the only explanation…
"Well now, you've caught me in my game but it's no reason not to have fun." Schuldig threw himself over Crawford like a wet blanket in invitation. He pushed his lips onto the precog's, initiating a forceful kiss. He stroked the hard muscles on Crawford's back and butt.
It was like kissing a doll. Crawford's tongue remained stubbornly still and the man's body felt like lead in his arms.
"I think that is quite enough." Crawford pushed Schuldig away after a moment. He carefully brushed his suit into place and went into his room like nothing happened.
He didn't even react...
Schuldig was at a loss for words. He had an unpleasant feeling that he was gaping like a fish but couldn't help it.
No one…no one's ever refused me…
He'd even manage to seduce some 'perfectly straight' guys before.
"Don't worry about Nevarre, he'll be dead soon enough." Crawford added before closing his door firmly at Schuldig's face.
Well-la-dee-da…
***
Yes, a crate of Viagra and then some…
Oh yes, Schuldig knew how hard it was to crack that cold shell of Crawford's.
Not that I'd want to… Konzen…was ever stubbornly untouchable…
With the odd thought, came a sudden flash of a blond with long hair in a girlish outfit with a pout to match. The man flashed in his mind's eye for a moment and then transformed himself into a shorthaired guy with the same pout in white robes and a white scroll on his shoulders.
The scroll…there's something about it…something important…it's the key, no one of the keys to--to--to my freedom…
The world erupted for a moment in a bright flash of blue-white light. A gate came into view. Then reality returned.
What was that all about?
Somewhere in Crawford's room, his inner pocket shone with iridescent light. It sparked a moment and died unnoticed.
***
"This show is getting boring, Jiroshin." Kanzeon said, yawning as she watched the proceedings in the lotus pool. Schwartz was decimating the Tokyo underworld. Weiß was still waiting for word of Aya-chan's whereabouts.
"Hai, but life is like that…one cannot depend on exciting moments all the time. It is made mostly of mundane moments." Jiroshin replied as he stood behind the Goddess of Mercy.
"Why I do believe you are growing philosophical!" Kanzeon exclaimed. She sounded pleasantly surprised.
"It is from hanging around you, Kanzeon-sama." Jiroshin fawned.
"I knew it was too good to last." Kanzeon murmured under her breath that Jiroshin ignored.
"Let's go, Jiroshin." Kanzeon stood up so fast that the gray haired swordsman backed up.
"But where are we going, Kanzeon-sama?"
"To Chou'An to find one thing to spice the mix up. It's time that the last player of this little drama be put into the game."
Besides, Goujun deserves a bit more consideration than that…he's been left out so many times…
"Kanzeon-sama! You can't mean…" Jiroshin said but Kanzeon had already disappeared from view.
***
"Kyu?" Hakuryu said as he looked up from preening his white bat-like wings. For an instant, he thought he caught a familiar scent on the wind. It was not all that made him cautious. The chanting that he heard perennially had dissolved into a surprised babble.
"You've taken good care of him, I see." A familiar contralto drifted in with a white clothed figure.
"Yes, Kanzeon Bosatsu-sama. The Chou'An Temple take the honor of caring for the White Dragon quite seriously." A high-ranking monk said as he followed the goddess into the room.
"Yes we feed him only the freshest vegetables and best cooked meats." Another monk said, looking at Hakuryu fondly. He was the one that often patted the dragon and gave the most treats. Not that Hakuryu cared, he didn't even know the man's name.
It was a long time since Hakuryu even took note of the string of caretakers he had. As long as they were well disposed towards him he didn't care for anything else.
They're just going to die on me anyway…
Hakuryu had once thought that he'd had found the ideal owner.
The man had been kind and protective, a youkai, too, and so wouldn't have died on Hakuryu. They had gone on many dangerous adventures together but it was fine. They and their companions seem to survive it all but his owner had found their human companion to love. He had pined away when the human died.
Hakuryu had tried to care for those that came after but no one lasted long. After the third around time in the cycle of caring and then losing, he had stopped to care.
"Ah, Goujun, would you like to see your old superior again? Tenpo has reincarnated again."
"Kyu?" Hakuryu asked, as he looked up to stare at the familiar female. The woman was strange.
Who is Goujun…and Tenpo? And what do they have to do with me?
He never understood what she said, like that other time…
***
"Kyu?" Hakuryu asked the cooling body beside him. He had smelled death the moment he had peeked from his basket but had hoped otherwise. His master was stiffening into a pose no one living could match.
"Well, well, Goujun. Left out again?"
"Kyu?" Hakuryu started as a woman suddenly appeared in front of him. She wore white flowing robes of clingy material. Her black hair flowed like a graceful waterfall from a high knot on her head.
"They are forever leaving you to go on their own, and you always the hopeless tag-along."
What?
"Kyu?" The little dragon was now hopelessly confused, if he could only scratch his head like his humans did he would have done so. He shook his head from side to side. He trusted the female because he'd seen his owner and their companions talk to her. She'd also helped them on several occasions.
Though maybe that's something I shouldn't thank her for...
If the odd female hadn't helped them at that time maybe the human would've died and Hakkai, his owner, wouldn't have mated with him.
Then my owner wouldn't have pined himself to death now...though there was a way to save the human from death and the man would take it... Stubborn foolish male...stubborn foolish female...
"Kyu!" He turned away from the crazy female, in deep anger.
"Oh, my condolences, but Tenpo was always been partial to Konzen even when they were up in heaven. I always suspected that their late night sessions to be more than just talk..." As the female chattered on, Hakuryu felt drawn by the flow of facts despite his anger.
That sounds intriguing and--and it sounds familiar...
It felt as if any moment he would know what the woman was talking about.
"Kyu?" Hakuryu asked the woman to clarify further.
"...But never mind that. I think someone would need to take care of you, now that your master's dead. Come with me?"
Now that he understood. Though he would continue to grieve his master for a long time but he knew that he must have a caretaker.
I don't need to like him or let him replace Hakkai... No one can replace Hakkai-youkai... She might not be so bad after all...
***
Hakuryu had long since dismissed the puzzlement for a fickle feeling. It was probably induced from listening to too many myths and legends of heaven. He had spent his fair share in the temple since his owner's mate was a monk.
I'd go insane with her chatter...if I keep listening to her...
He was about to start ignoring the woman again when he heard something that interested him.
"Yes, I really asked you that would you like to see Hakkai again? Though he's wearing a different body these days..."
That he couldn't resist.
"Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!" Hakuryu flapped his wings and landed on the female's shoulder.
"I knew you wouldn't say no." The female said, and the room faded from view.
***
Crawford looked at the plans for the abduction of Fujimiya Aya with satisfaction. It was a foolproof plan. Nothing can go wrong with it.
And when we have her... I will be able to control the destinies of Weiß and Schwartz...
He wanted the power very badly.
When I have summoned the demon then all of my dreams will be mine... It will give me power to rule the world and, most of all, the power to get Ran away from that Sakura... Though I could probably managed the second sooner…
Somehow, it sounds wrong…
Though, try as he might, Crawford couldn't find out what was wrong with his plans.
***
Aya got into his room absently. He was still too preoccupied with his problems with Crawford and Sakura. The sudden resentment he had felt had vanished and without it he couldn't see any reason for what he just did.
Now that I think of it wasn't quite the way I meant it… Or should mean it…
He hadn't had the right to play with Crawford's emotions as he had done.
Crawford might fight on the other side but he's human... He's given me consideration--consideration beyond the norm... Anyone else would've slept with me that first time...Schuldig, for example, would certainly not have hesitated...
He could still feel the heat of that first encounter in the motel. The silky heat of touching skin and cloth underneath him, the friction of two bodies close to one another. He knew it couldn't have been easy for Crawford either.
It would've been so easy to go over the edge then...
On the drive home, Aya admitted to himself that he also wanted Crawford in equal measure. It was hard not to, all afternoon as he gazed at the lone figure hiding behind a tree. He wished that he were with the man instead of the girl he was with. He liked and wanted Sakura but her chatter of school and girlish concerns had little to do with him.
She may know that I'm an assassin and seem to accept the fact but...it's not the same... She thinks she understands but she doesn't really... No one as young and innocent could really know...what it's like to take a life...to have the weight of all that blood on your conscience... She has been sheltered so much that she doesn't know any of the hardships that I have faced and continue to face in my line of work. She has the gilded understanding of someone who's never felt want in her life...the same feeling of the rich kids when they see the needy on the street... They think they know how suffering is but you can hear them complain of their allowances being cut or their early curfew hours as if these were the greatest tragedies of the world when there are people who can't even eat three times a day. No, she doesn't understand at all... [3]
When it came down to it she was just too young and too like Aya-chan for him to really consider being his girlfriend. Yet, there was still that wondering in his heart.
Nonsense, I'd never be at peace if it were so...but...she really isn't your sister, isn't she?
Given, of course, that your father had been faithful to your mother...
His conscience sarcastically chimed in.
She is legally free to be your girlfriend...
He didn't know why the voice in his mind was saying such things.
Didn't I already decide not to involve her in this? Besides, Crawford seems to be a nice enough guy. He almost seems to be courting me conventionally. First, the refusal to take sex as payment for information, then to give the information for just a kiss...
His actions were unjustified to say the least. Sakura was too young for him and too like Aya-chan. Despite Crawford being his enemy, the man suited him much more than she would. Still he was torn in two and can't decide over the matter.
When it should be so simple...and so easy...but it isn't...
Absently, he walked into his room and flipped the light switch on, so intent was he on his internal dialogue that he barely noticed that there was a white dragon curled up in his bed. The small thing's breathing rustled the corner of his blanket ever so slightly.
I better buy some meat chunks, this dragon's going to be hungry when he wakes up... Wait! A small white dragon on my bed... A small dragon is on my bed...
But dragons don't exist in the real world...
"Kyu!" The little white dragon said, as he uncoiled to blink sleepy eyes at Aya.
Aya couldn't believe this was happening to him on top of everything else.
Why me?
~TBC~
[2] This is the obscure joke. Etienne Nevarre is the name of the hero in the movie "LadyHawk". The man cursed to be a wolf by night while his lady, Isabeau, is a hawk by day. Rutger Hauer played the role. *silrayn goes glassy eyed and swoons* I liked him as Etienne Nevarre, more so than Orlando Bloom as Legolas(In fact, I don't like Legolas all that much.). Please don't bite me! *gets pelted by rotten tomatoes*
Ayan-kitsune: *bites silrayn's hind wolfy paw*
Silrayn: Ayan! @_@
[3] Guilty as charged. I'm a spoiled middle class girl in a Third World Country. I can't pretend to know what poverty really means though I live within a block of a squatters' tenement.
Reply to Reviews:
Sorry people, I can't get rid of Sakura-chan. She and Ran have some unfinished business to settle from their past life. I might even have to write her viewpoint sometime.
Ummm... Asuka/Neu is not a character in Saiyuki and definitely not Gojyo's mom. Oh dearie me! ^^;;; I didn't mean to imply that! ^^;;;
Third Birthday Week Update Candidates:
Unsaid Oaths - Chapter 1 (A snake in Eden)
Kitsune Ku - Chapter 5 (the plot sickens)
Raven's Pendant - Chapter 12(To Catch a Raven)